Salen ( gd, An t-Sàilein)
is a coastal village on the
Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access ...
peninsula, overlooking
Salen Bay Salen may refer to: Places
*Salen, Ardnamurchan, a village on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the highland region of Scotland.
*Salen, Mull, a village on the island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland
*Sälen, in Dalarna, Sweden Other uses
* Sa ...
which is an inlet of the sea loch,
Loch Sunart
Loch Sunart (Scottish Gaelic ) is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Sunart is bounded to the north by the Sunart district of Ardnamurchan and to the south by the Morvern district. At long, it is the longest sea loch in the Highlan ...
. Located in the Scottish council area of
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
, it is on the road to
Ardnamurchan Point
Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access ...
, the most westerly point of mainland
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
.
Etymology
Salen is from the
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
''Sàilean'', meaning "small inlet. Many of the local names relate to the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
such as
Sunart
Sunart ( , Scottish Gaelic: ''Suaineart'') is a rural district and community in the south west of Lochaber in Highland, Scotland, on the shores of Loch Sunart, and part of the civil parish of Ardnamurchan. The main village is Strontian, at the head ...
, which is derived from ''Suaineart'' meaning "Svein's fjord" and
Acharacle originally meaning "Torquil's field".
[Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 2] This is evidence of the Scandinavian occupation of much of northern and western Scotland from the 9th century.
Somerled
Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the ...
, who founded the Lordship of the Isles, may have hailed from the area.
History
In the 1990s the restoration of the oak woodland surrounding Salen began and the area was proposed as a Special Area of Conservation. There are many local walks where evidence of human activity going back to the Stone Age can be found. Salen has for centuries been one of Loch Sunart's safest anchorages. The stone pier was built when Salen was one of the main ports in the 19th century visited by steamers and other vessels. In 2011 the facilities at the pier were enhanced with a nine berth pontoon.
The Salen Hotel was built by C.D. Rudd, the diamond millionaire, who along with Cecil Rhodes each bought a quarter share of De Beers gold mine and diamond fields.
During the Second World War, due to the remoteness and ease with which the peninsula could be cut off, the entire area was used for Special Forces military training. The foundations of military buildings can be seen in Salen Village and evidence of training in the form of spent cartridges can be found on local walks.
See also
*
Scandinavian Scotland
Scandinavian Scotland was the period from the 8th to the 15th centuries during which Vikings and Norse settlers, mainly Norwegians and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, and their descendants colonised parts of what is now the periphery of ...
Notes
References
*
External links
{{Lochaber
Populated places in Lochaber
Ardnamurchan